The other day my aunt posted a status saying, “The old man is in the building today. I’m sure chaos is around the corner.”
Initially, I was unsure what she was referring to. However, after going through more of her posts I realized she was speaking about her boss. When I confronted her about posting things concerning her work she said it was not a big deal because his name or the company’s was never directly mentioned, and she does not have co-workers as friends. While that is true, it does not take a rocket scientist to piece two and two together.
After talking with my aunt I began to wonder what actions companies are taking to fight the battle of bad PR via social media. I would think that with the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, individuals would start turning towards these media outlets; utilizing them as an outlet for personal frustration. After all, I see my peers complain about their professors and universities on these sites.
Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) recently made a post about how some workers were busted by their companies when they posted things that reflected poorly on their respective companies.
One of the most obvious ways was simply being able to search an individual on the internet. If you do not have your media on 100% complete lock down, your pages will come up. Sometimes an individual post might appear because it was shared or retweeted by other users. Another way was using company property such as a cell phone to make calls, send emails, or take pictures. The cell phone is owned by the company; therefore, they have the right to access it and review the content.
Companies have started adopting online harassment policies to try and enforce consequences of defamation. This could include having employees sign a contract that holds them accountable for their actions concerning social media. TWC encourages all businesses and organizations to adopt these kinds of policies.
Social media exposure for businesses and organizations plays a big part in their success these days with our advanced technology. Every mention is either good or bad PR. Public Relation professionals are the ones who are held responsible for managing the relationship between the clients and the business. With that said, if there is one person posting negatively about the business or organization they have to figure out the best way to combat the bad publicity. That also shows internal conflict which is not good for anyone, and creates unnecessary work for the PR Director.
Perhaps if people were more aware of the consequences of their actions they would be less likely to post negative things to social media concerning their work environment. Then again, who knows?
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